Archive for the 'Karl Malone' Tag Under 'Lakers' Category

Kobe Bryant said last week about the possibility of passing ex-teammate Shaquille O'Neal on the NBA's career scoring chart: "It was inevitable."

It become beyond inevitable with 5:08 left in the second quarter Monday night in Philadelphia, Bryant's childhood home neighborhood where he sank a 23-footer and then soon fell into an extended embrace with longtime teammate Derek Fisher to commemorate the moment.

Bryant passed O'Neal with that shot that gave him 24 points in the game and the Lakers a 40-35 lead on the 76ers. After Bryant made it, Philadelphia coach Doug Collins immediately began aggressive double-teaming of Bryant, usually sending a second defender as soon as Bryant caught the ball and forcing the Lakers to look elsewhere for offense.

Bryant's next target on the scoring list is Wilt Chamberlain (31,419 points) -- followed by Michael Jordan (32,292), Karl Malone (36,928) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387). Bryant, 33, hit five consecutive shots before making the one to pass O'Neal, who retired before this season to do commentary for TNT.

Of the top six scorers in NBA history, five have played for the Lakers -- the exception being Jordan.

Kobe Bryant's dunk with 3:39 left in the Lakers' Game 2 victory over New Orleans on Wednesday night extended his streak of consecutive double-figure scoring playoff games to 151, second-most in NBA history to Michael Jordan.

Bryant added a free throw later to finish with 11 points, so he still has a shot at Jordan's record of 179 consecutive double-figure scoring games -- a streak that Jordan began on Apr. 19, 1995, and continued until he retired. Bryant's streak began on June 19, 2000, and he passed Karl Malone (147 consecutive games), Shaquille O'Neal (137) and Larry Bird (136) during the last postseason.

The longest current such streak besides Bryant's belongs to Miami's LeBron James, who has 73 consecutive double-figure scoring games.

Bryant is now one shy of the mark shared by former Laker Jerry West and two of Bryant's former teammates, Shaquille O'Neal and Karl Malone.

And Kobe didn't exactly inch his way into the Western Conference's starting lineup. He was the leading vote-getter for the game set for Feb. 20 on his home court at Staples Center.

Sitting here today, it seems that only a major injury could prevent Bryant from setting the NBA's all-time record for consecutive All-Star selections. And even that might not be enough. Yao Ming was voted to start at center for the West, and he's already knocked out because of an injury.

Bryant is a near cinch to have at least two more uninterrupted All-Star selections ahead of him. In fact, we'd be willing to bet one of Kevin Ding's paychecks on it.